03/30/10

Shon Boublil Wins Guitar Competition

Sixteen-year-old guitarist Shon Boublil of Montreal may barely be old enough to drive, but he’s old enough to impress a panel of guitarists and industry veterans. Boublil was named the grand prize winner of Lee Ritenour's Yamaha Six String Theory Guitar Competition at the final competition held recently at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, CA. Boublil was chosen from a field of 13 guitarists from all over the world. His prize for winning? A full scholarship to the Berklee School of Music, a guest appearance on the all-star guitar CD Six String Theory being released on Concord Records, and a Yamaha guitar endorsement.

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Left to right are Ritenour with the judges, finalists and grand prize winner: judge Larry Baione (Chair of the Berklee guitar department), finalist Johan Jorgensen (Denmark), finalist Manuel Bastian (Germany), finalist David B

Ritenour told JT in an e-mail at, "As the guitar competition's grand prize winner, 16 year old Shon Boublil shined through both rounds of the finals. This was particulalry evident in the second round when he played a virtuoso piece that exhibited talent way beyond his years. He showed no fear, had a beautiful tone, great interpretation and displayed all signs of being a major artist in the near future."